Bottom of the 9th: Tony Barnette came on and pitched a 1-2-3 inning for his 36th save of the season.

Sugiura had some iffy moments but managed to wiggle out of each jam. His pitching line finished with 5 innings pitched, 5 hits, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts and 2 earned runs. Although he did not come out with the win, he managed to hang with Fujinami and gave the Swallows a chance to win.

Notes

With Hanshin and Gomiuri Giants both losing today, the Swallows Central League lead is back to two games. However. the Swallows still do not have a magic number to clinch the league.

Despite only managing three hits against Hanshin starter Fujinami, the Swallows were able to wear him out early and get into the dreadful Hanshin bullpen.

IF: the Swallows beat or tie Hiroshima on Tuesday evening and Gomiuri lose to Hanshin, the Swallows magic number to clinch will be 8.

The Swallows bullpen (Roman, Kyuko, Akiyoshi, Barnette) threw another four innings of scoreless relief in this game.

Starters for Tuesday’s game against Hiroshima at Jingu: Ishikawa for the Swallows, youngster Toda for Hiroshima.